Page images
PDF
EPUB

ren, we should have but this single care-that, as we grow in years, we may grow in grace; still bearing more abundant fruit in our age--the rich fruit of humility, and the ripe fruit of thankfulness-making manifest to all around us, how true the Lord our strength is, and that there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Thus our last days shall be our best days; till, having totally done with the earthly house of this tabernacle, we go to occupy a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens-where neither toil nor care, neither sin nor sorrow, neither age nor infirmity, shall be known any more: but where, in the fullest sense, we shall receive the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls.

SERMON XVIII,

1 SAM. II. 1.

And Hannah prayed, and said, my heart rejoiceth in the Lord.

A CONSIDERABLE part of this chapter is taken up with a devotional address of more than ordinary interest. The character of the composition is that of a sacred hymn, in celebration of the divine bounty and goodness. It was the thank-offering of a distinguished female, under the warmest influence of a grateful heart; and it is too remarkable for its beauty and pathos, to allow any attentive reader to pass it over, without many an involuntary pause for reflection and feeling. It goes under the general denomination of Hannah's prayer, though it breathes throughout the language of holy joy and triumph.

In the usual order of things, the exercise of thanksgiving and praise is preceded by that of supplication and prayer-we first

[ocr errors]

solicit the supply of some want, or the removal of some affliction; and then, after obtaining the wished relief, we come before God with our grateful acknowledgments. That such was the course pursued by this highly favoured woman, the former part of her short history renders abundantly evident and as this history is given in the preceding chapter, we will here refer to some of its most interesting passages.

Now there was a certain man of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah; and he had two wives, the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah : and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. The practice of polygamy appears to have been very common, among all the various tribes of mankind, at that early period of the world. Such a practice was not absolutely forbidden by the law of God, though it was a palpable deviation from the original design of marriage, which was that of binding to each other an individual of either sex, by a tie at once the most endearing and the most indissoluble. Contrary, however, to the plain intention of the institution, many persons of unquestionable

uprightness and piety, especially in the times of which we speak, are known to have multiplied their connexions of this kind. And among those who did so, we must number Elkanah; who appears, on this occasion, very little to have consulted either the peace of his own mind, or the comfort of his household.

Behold here the fruitful source of Hannah's troubles! Between her and her rival, causes of jealousy and contention were endless and inevitable. Every day produced new grounds of irritation, and widened the breach that had sundered their embittered spirits. Whatever trials we meet with abroad, and to how many vexations soever we may be exposed in our transactions with the world, if affection and sympathy await us at home, we have abundant reason to acknowledge that the lot is fallen to us in a fair ground, and that we are favoured with a goodly heritage. But when family feuds and home-bred contentions disturb the harmony of our domestic circles, our case becomes truly pitiable, and our prospects most discouraging. Such, however, seems to have been the state of Elkanah's house, at the

period here referred to by the sacred historian. In the meantime, as a conscientious worshipper of the only true God, this man was in the habit of presenting himself and his family, at stated seasons, before the Lord in Shiloh; where the ark of the covenant was then stationed, and where it remained for more than three hundred years. Thither the tribes went up to do homage at the feet of Jehovah; there the high priest had his stated dwelling; there the divinely appointed offerings were made; and there the public festivals were observed with all the solemn ceremonies prescribed in the Mosaic ritual.

Elkanah and his family were accustomed duly to attend the ordinances of the Lord's house at this place: but it may easily be conceived, how much the comfort and benefit of their religious observances must have been diminished, by the disorder and confusion which prevailed at home. Where brotherly love has lost its influence, the richest gifts and the most importunate prayers are nothing better than a solemn mockery in the sight of God. In such a society the divine tabernacle can never find

« PreviousContinue »